Resolute Support Mission
|size= 17,034 troops as of February 2019 |command_structure= Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum |garrison=Kabul, Afghanistan |garrison_label=Headquarters |motto= تعلیمات، کمک، مشورت |battles=War in Afghanistan |anniversaries= |decorations= |disbanded= |commander1= GEN Austin S. Miller, USA |commander1_label=Commander |commander2= Lieutenant General Salvatore Camporeale, Italian Army |commander2_label=Deputy Commander |commander3= CSM Timothy L. Metheny, USA |commander3_label=Senior Enlisted Leader |notable_commanders= |identification_symbol= |identification_symbol_label = Flag |identification_symbol_2 = |identification_symbol_2_label = Variant flag |start_date= }} Resolute Support Mission or Operation Resolute Support is a NATO-led train, advise and assist mission consisting of over 13,000 troops in Afghanistan, which began on January 1, 2015. It is a follow-on mission to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which was completed on December 28, 2014. Its current commander is U.S. Army General Austin S. Miller who replaced U.S. Army General John W. Nicholson Jr. on 2 September 2018. Legal basis The operation plan for the Resolute Support Mission (RSM) was approved by foreign ministers of the NATO members in late June 2014 and the corresponding status of forces agreement was signed by President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani and NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Maurits Jochems in Kabul on 30 September 2014. The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted United Nations Security Council Resolution 2189 in support of the new international mission in Afghanistan. Objectives and deployment The objective of the mission is to provide training, advice and assistance for Afghan security forces and institutions in their conflict with extremist groups such as the Taliban, the Haqqani network, and ISIS-K. The Resolute Support Mission envisages the deployment of approximately 12,000 personnel from NATO and partner nations in Afghanistan with the central hub at Kabul and Bagram Airfield supporting four spokes. The spokes will be formed by Train Advise Assist Commands (TAACs), which will directly support four of the six Afghan National Army Corps. Train Advise Assist Command - Capital replaces the former Regional Command Capital; the redesignation took place in August 2014. TAAC East will assist the 201st Corps from FOB Gamberi and FOB Fenty located near Jalalabad, TAAC South will assist the 205th Corps from Kandahar International Airport, TAAC West will assist the 207th Corps in Herat and TAAC North will cover the 209th Corps from Mazar-i-Sharif. TAAC North is under the command of Brig. Gen. Harald Gante, German Army.Operation Resolute Support, TAAC North Regional Command North was redesignated as TAAC North on July 1, 2014.Bundeswehr, Train Advise Assist Command North – Baustein für die Zukunft Afghanistans Mazar-e Sharif, 17.07.2014., accessed 1 January 2015. The 203rd Corps located in the south-eastern part of the country will see advisers from time to time from TAAC East (one source describes this as "fly to advise"). The 215th Corps in the south-west will get a little attention from TAAC South. Several of the TAACs were established prior to the disestablishment of ISAF; they can be seen on the December 2014 ISAF status update sheet. U.S. President Barack Obama, in an update given from the White House on Wednesday, July 6, 2016, stated that, following General John W. Nicholson's, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Joseph Dunford's, and U.S. Defense Department Secretary Ashton Carter's mutual recommendations, the U.S. would have about 8,400 troops remaining in Afghanistan through the end of his Administration in December 2016. The residual force of 9,800 troops were withdrawn on December 31, 2016, leaving behind 8,400 troops stationed at four garrisons (Kabul, Kandahar, Bagram, and Jalalabad). The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) is Congressionally appointed to oversee the $117.26 billion that Congress has provided to implement reconstruction programs in Afghanistan. The SIGAR's "April 30, 2018 Quarterly Report to Congress" says, "of January 31, 2018, 14.5% of the country’s total districts were under insurgent control or influence an additional 29.2% were contested." Contributing nations As of June 2016, among the forces contributing to the mission are 6,954 Americans training and helping Afghan forces, 2,850 Americans engaged in counter-terrorism missions, 5,859 NATO soldiers and 26,000 military contractors. A new U.S. unit, the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade, deployed to Afghanistan in February 2018. The United Kingdom announced in July 2018 that it was to send 440 more British personnel to Afghanistan. Around half of the additional personnel will deploy to the country in August 2018 and the other half to follow by February 2019. This will increase the total number of British personnel in the country from 650 to 1,090 by early 2019. The following nations have personnel stationed in Afghanistan as part of the mission in February 2019: References 01 Category:NATO operations in Afghanistan Category:Military units and formations of NATO Category:Military units and formations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Category:Military units and formations established in 2014 Category:2014 establishments in Afghanistan Category:Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present) involving the United States Category:Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present) involving Australia Category:Military operations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–present) involving Germany Category:Military operations involving Georgia (country) Category:Non-combat military operations involving Australia Category:Non-combat military operations involving Germany Category:Foreign relations of Afghanistan